Good luck and get out
Dear people of the CNMI: I have read the text of Ms. Lazaro’s speech, the so-named champion of the 30th Attorney General’s Cup Speech Competition on Friday on Tinian. I am disturbed by her proselytizing tone that the CNMI people and in most cases the U.S. federal government, through their laws, have been inhumane in most of the laws they have enacted regarding immigration in the mainland and in the Commonwealth (see Saipan Tribune, page 11, Tuesday May 6, 2014, “Nothing human is alien to me”)
Her simplistic views that our local/U.S. law as they apply to CW workers in the CNMI is flawed and do not treat aliens (outsiders) as humans are unjustified. It is through some parts of the U.S. immigration law the afforded her her status as an American citizen, although her parents were only invited here for work, with a contract for certain periods, with no promise of enhanced favorable pathways to U.S. citizenship. Her parents were paid airfare, housing, decent wages and other benefits for their work services through local and U.S. laws. These foreign workers (CW) were allowed to continue their stay in the CNMI anywhere from five to 20 years or longer, while they continue to have babies who are automatic U.S. citizens (Ms. Lazaro included).
Even with all these perks and benefits, alien CW workers, with the assistance of Delegate Kilili who continually advocate for an enhanced pathway to circumvent immigration laws, continue to ask our local leaders for CW extension for five years and the granting of special privileges (CNMI only) of immediate enhanced rights to stay and continue working toward attaining U.S. citizenship. To Ms. Lazaro, this in not humane. Even for their benefit, current immigration laws should not be amended to provide for their wellbeing and to enhance their final goal of citizenship.
She asserted that the U.S. immigration system is so broken that former mayor Bloomberg of New York has criticized it as national suicide. My rebuttal to her and Bloomberg is to remind her that our congressional leaders have constantly reminded us that they are not ready to introduce legislation to address changes to immigration laws unless and until border protection is strictly enforced to curtail continued illegal crossings from Mexico and elsewhere.
I am certain the Ms. Lazaro has done her research, but I will not leave my island’s (this is not her island, as she opined) future and political and traditional values to a non-NMD alien Filipina’s idea of what is wrong or right or human. Good luck to her and her parents but be prepared to leave and go back to your real island, the Philippines.
Brothers and sisters, Chamorros, Carolinians and fellow CNMI citizens, let us stand up and be prepared to defend of island traditions, culture, and values and a future of our own making. I know we can make it as in the past, in the present and even in the future.
JD Camacho
via snail mail
Ms. Lorenzo, It is “humane” for CW’s to come into the USA and take over jobs that US Citizens can fill? Many foreign managers of corporations have purposely shut out US and local full time workers because CW’s are generally lower paid. CWs are not necessarily better workers than the young workers coming in today,,.102 million Americans are out of work right now. Is it humane for 80,000 CW’s to be allowed into the USA in the first week of April, when many American children and family members are poor and hungry? I would hope that your parents and family could stay with us here in the CNMI with us provided there are enough jobs and that US Citizens would be first choice among employers to hire, train and promote, but that is not the case in many foreign owned companies here. Priority has been given to foreign workers and foreign nationalities have given the priority of hiring and training their own nationalities, not local workers. That is plain disrespectful to us who allow the foreign businesses and CW’s to come here in the first place. If companies would honor the commitment to US Citizens first, then more power and money to them. If these companies cannot hire, train and promote local workers, then they need to leave the CNMI along with especially those ungrateful, demanding and many unqualified CW workers. That’s the way I see it and I have worked side by side with these CW’s for many years. I have been consistently pushed down and to the side while CW’s have been promoted and are willing to work for lower pay in higher positions, again a good reason for CW’s to leave the CNMI. Shape up or ship out. Thank You. And yes, my work performance, experience and more complete knowledge is better than all the CWs in my department.
In reality, Saipan many businesses have already had a long enough time to make the necessary adjustments to train and hire US Citizens, but, even today continue to refuse. Many businesses continue to refuse to spend money on training that even furthers the delay in departure of CW’s. The deadline shouldn’t be extended at all, but again, bad politics by many politicians accepting the campaign contributions from the larger businesses have persuaded politicians to extend the deadline even with the over 40% of the working US Citizens unemployed (many of their family members) and qualify for expensive government handouts. We all should already know that business want to draw people from a large pool of people to try to get the best workers for the lowest price. If you take the CW’s out of the equation, minimum wage will go up as scheduled. Most of the decisions are made for the sake of MONEY, not humanity. Some businesses could care less about the workers, both contract or local. CW workers should not come into someone else’s home and demand of force the owner of that home to stay. CWs should have the attitude of thankfulness for being allowed to stay and work for whatever amount of time allowed…And businesses and politicians should not be so greedy. It would be nice if we could all help each other out in whatever good faith ways we can. IF the 2000 room hotel casino is verified to be in operation right away, that might give us a good reason to extend the deadline, but then again the CNMI might decide to send back the longer term CW workers first and replace them with newer workers, when and as needed since it is likely not to be finished in 3 to 5 years. This might just be another political ploy to delay progress in putting US Citizens to work. And by the way, I work with many of the contract workers and I have been around for a long time so I have seen firsthand the good, bad and ugly of the situation. Let’s try to discuss and solve these difficulties together, ok?
The name is saipanman Mr. Editor
Well regardless of what happens we will leave anyway. There are certainly better places to work than Saipan.
Good luck with all your healthcare vacancies, CUC vacancies, Tech vacancies…etc
I am sure Saipan will have lots of qualified people for those jobs. As for the service industry jobs it’s usually one and done. One check and then party time.
Saipan folks tend to live their life in a bubble, Like Saipan was the only place on earth and nothing else around them matters. The world is changing mate and if you don’t pay attention it may bite Saipan in the rear-end.
Maybe if all the section 8 and food stamp were cutoff you could get locals to work.
Good luck with all that!